Decorator gives the 411 on the difference between staging a home and designing one

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An empty-nester couple knew if they wanted to sell their house quickly, they had to make their house as attractive as possible to a potential buyer. After 35 years in North Salem, N.Y., they intended to move to the Danbury area in Connecticut. Although their colonial had strong bones, the interior was dark, with bold colors on the walls and dated carpeting. Nothing had been done to renovate or freshen up the home in more than 30 years. The savvy wife understood that she would need to do some updating, a daunting task. That’s when she turned to Patti Stern, a professional stager, for help.

“The woman thought she had to do some major renovations, a new bathroom, for example. But you don’t have to go overboard in preparing your house for sale,” Stern says. “I had to rein her in.” Instead, Stern suggested new flooring, a change of paint colors and brushed-nickel lighting. The home sold in one day.

“It was one of my favorite jobs,” Stern says. “A number of the houses I’ve staged have sold one day after going on the market.”

The old adage of “location, location, location” as the be-all and end-all of selling a house may still work in some communities, but, for the most part, there are three other components just as important, Stern says: the right price, lovely esthetics and a Realtor with a proven record of selling houses for close to the original asking price.

More than 60 percent of home buyers are millennials, especially in Fairfield County, and they are looking for a house in move-in condition, Stern says. They want that “wow” reaction on seeing a house for the first time. That means no leaking faucets, bold colors on the walls, thread-bare rugs or broken shutters. Homeowners know if they want to sell their homes quickly, they need a fresh coat of paint throughout the house and rooms that are bright and inviting. You have to present a lifestyle in step with today’s buyer, she advises.

While professional staging has been around for quite a number of years, it’s only in the last dozen or so that Realtors and homeowners alike consider staging a necessity. An accredited home stager and decorator, Stern launched her company, PJ & Company Staging and Interior Decorating, 11 years ago. Stern, who hails from Cheshire, estimates she has staged hundreds of homes in Connecticut and in New York’s Westchester County, from New Haven and Guilford to Danbury and Stamford. She stresses decorating a home for sale is very different from designing a home for personal enjoyment. She points out five key distinctions:

Staging neutralizes a home’s decor by removing the homeowner’s personality to attract a broad buying audience. Decorating creates a decor that focuses on personal taste and preferences.

Staging uses neutral colors for the walls, and furnishings that are clean-lined. Decorating veers toward on-trend designs, such as beautiful wallpaper patterns and bold paint colors to add distinctive style and personality.

Staging edits and declutters a home. Decorating uses accents and accessories to enhance a room.

Staging stresses a clean look with accessories kept at a minimum. Decorating is more about creating an overall design theme by adding color, lighting, furniture and accessories.

“A stager is going to take out all your personality so buyers can envisage your home as their home,” Stern says. While she is a decorator (“I’m a visual person. I like to rearrange furniture.”), she does have an interior designer on board, Katie Samuelson, who does the specifications. Like others in her profession, Stern owns a huge inventory of such essentials as bedding, pillows, rugs, lighting, art for the walls, oversize mirrors and chairs, even plates and glasses, about 5,000 pieces in all that are stored in a warehouse. What she doesn’t have she rents from vendors. Sometimes she has to advise her clients to replace dated appliances in the kitchen with new stainless steel ones, a not insignificant cost, but worth every penny, she says, if you want to attract a buyer.

And don’t overlook the importance of the internet, Stern says. Prospective buyers will scan communities, then neighborhoods and finally zero in on houses that appeal to them from what they see online. In one survey, she says, researchers found more than 97 percent of homes are sold online. It’s a staggering statistic. The internet listing is the “first point of engagement,” she says. Since those posted photos of your house need to look beautiful — they are going to sell your house — Stern urges owners to make sure their Realtor hires a professional photographer.

While Stern can pull all the components of a job together within two weeks prior to the listing of a house, she suggests the homeowner begin the refurbishing process at least six months in advance of listing. In most cases, with all the preliminary work done, staging can be accomplished in one day. If much has to be done, she has a cadre of insured and vetted craftsmen at her disposal, from painters and plumbers to carpenters and electricians. Her fee is 1 percent of the sale price; in some cases, 1.5 percent, depending on the scope of the project. The more rooms involved, the higher the fee, plus cost of rentals.

“Buyers want a home that is bright, fresh, uncluttered, cleaner, yet with a splash of flair,” Stern sums up her successful credo. No wonder that her company just won Best of Houzz Award for Customer Satisfaction for the third year in a row.

My goal, she says, is to have people “engage with a property and visualize what it would be like living there and buying that home. And that’s what staging is all about.”